This springtime scene was captured in my garden in NE Portland, Oregon several years ago. This purple-prevalent planting scheme is dominated by a red leafed Japanese maple (Acer palmatum dissectum), Rhododendron 'Anah Kruschke', Australian mint bush (Prostanthera rotundifolia) and a blue flowering clematis hybrid. This largely monochromatic planting scheme is enhanced by the variety of flower shapes, different foliage textures, and the variation in the hue and intensity of the color.

Even the kitchen garden seems to be getting into the act, offering up a late-season finale. There are some plants that seem to really get a second wind with the cooler days of fall; the rainbow Swiss chard is looking lush, full and colorful in a couple areas of my garden. Though I think some, like the lemons, kick into high gear because they sense that their time is running out, figuring they better get a move on if they're going to deliver anything for the season.

Now that the Meyer lemon is starting to color up their true identity is revealed. For months, garden visitors have been commenting on the limes that I was growing! The Cuban oregano shown in the foreground of this photo is one of my favorite ornamental edibles. Though I have to admit that I seem to be growing this strictly as an ornamental; I have yet to use it in my cooking. Guess I'm not sure how to use it. Any tips from readers on that?

I don't normally think of strawberries as a source of fall color, but this season they're sure adding a nice pop of red in these baskets hanging from my eaves.

I've been doing more doing than blogging lately so I'd like to attempt to share a bit of what I've been working on.

Spring is a busy time in so many ways and this year is shaping up to be one of the busiest yet ... veg-garden-wise, that is. In this post, I want to set the stage a little bit for what I hope will be many posts chronicling my progress with growing more of our food. I've got several different gardens that I'm tending and want to give you an overview of the different sites so that there will be some additional context as I post through the season. I've set up photo albums for each garden and will be posting lots of photos as the season progresses.

My Kitchen Garden at Home: 2009 will be my fourth growing season in this garden which occupies our re-commissioned driveway, a narrow space less than 9 feet wide on the south side of my house. My goal was to create a beautiful, productive, and space-efficient kitchen garden. The fence was designed to be beautiful and functional. I grow "up" as much as possible, using the fence to support vining and trailing plants; maximizing vertical growing space in small gardens is essential. New this year: growing "down." I've added containers hanging from the eaves. Anything a cook would appreciate having right out the back door is a contender for including in this space. We're growing salad greens, peas, beans, a few tomatoes, berries and herbs for cooking such as basil, cilantro, mint, parsley and more.

The (Urban) Farm: I am co-farming with a friend on her property. We're doing production-oriented growing with an eye toward really making a dent in providing a fair amount of the food for our two households; both during the growing season but also with enough left over that we can preserve some of the harvest as well. This is not huge garden by some peoples standards, but it is by no means a small garden either; we have ten 4' x 8' raised beds and we're adding about 60 feet of 2' wide in-ground rows this year. We started this venture last year, so 2009 will be our second growing season at this site. A photo album of this garden is here. Past post about this gardens development can be found here.

The Back 400: After being on the waiting list for a couple of years for a community garden plot, this year my name came up and I'm thrilled. Our garden is a 20 foot x 20 foot plot (20 x 20 = 400; the "back 400" ... get it?!) at the Cully Community Garden site in NE Portland. I'll be doing more production-oriented growing over there as well.

Edibles ... the new Ornamental?: In addition to the "traditional" sites mentioned above, I'm going to be looking for ways to integrate ornamental edibles in creative and beautiful ways within the garden proper at home; anywhere and everywhere is fair game.

So why all this effort to grow our own? Most importantly, you can't beat homegrown for quality, freshness and flavor. But I'm also a strong believer in the environmental value of local food production and you can't get more local than growing your own. Plus, there's great satisfaction in knowing exactly what went into the food that we bring to our table especially with all the recent issues surrounding food safety. In my mind, it's definitely worth it and I'm having a blast doing it.

So, I hope you'll check back often to follow our progress. If you're also trying to grow more of your own food in your garden, leave a comment and let us all know what you're up to.

They're reporting this is most snow we've seen in Portland in December since 1968. Yup, seems 'bout right.

Needless to say, we're not really using the front door right now. There's easily over a foot at the front door.

Spots of color, like this snow-covered ornament, really stand out.

The lovely bark on my crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia x 'Zuni' on the right in this picture) really stands out in the snow.

Don't see this everyday; a cross country skier cruising along NE 47th.

It's really piling up in the back garden. Cozy though. Sit for a spell?

Prominent in the photo to the left is a yew (Taxus x 'Sentinalis) that is normally very strongly upright that was splaying under the weight of this snow. I went out this morning and shook the snow off this and some of my other evergreens this morning (well, as best as I could at least). If we get ice after this snow I worry that it will break under the strain.

This year, I've re-worked this scene to the left of my front steps as you approach the house. Earlier this spring I removed a much-loved, but poorly-situated Stipa gigantea because it was spilling over onto the steps at the front entry creating a bit of a hazard and, more generally, looking unkempt.

Last year, in preparation for this renovation, I removed the ultra-pink Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll' and replaced it with the equally fragrant and statuesque Rosa 'Abraham Darby' whose coloring is less insistent and more in keeping with my current color palette. He's not showing his bloom yet in this photo but will be a major player as the season unfolds. Other key players, counter-clockwise from the bottom left, include Anemanthele lessoniana, Lonicera 'Baggeson's Gold', Helianthemum 'Henfield Brilliant', Taxus 'Sentinalis' and Physocarpus 'Diabolo.'

I added the container this spring to showcase a favorite cordyline called 'Pink Sensation' that I picked up last year. The container contributes strong, all-season structure, bringing the entire scene into sharp focus. Voila!

It's shaping up to be a great year for the alliums in my garden. They've been very happily increasing and multiplying in my sunny and hot parking strip with its yummy, free-draining soil.

This shot, taken earlier today, marks the beginning of the "show." This is Allium 'Purple Sensation' which will be followed by a succession of blooms from several other species and cultivars, which include A. 'Globemaster', A. 'Mount Everest', A. christophii, A. schubertii, A. giganteum, and A. sphaerocephalon. They bloom in approximately that order in my garden, so I have a succession of blooms that last until about mid-July.

Took this photos just moment's ago; my coral bark maple (Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku') is looking stunning! Fall is truly my favorite time of year and I've tried to design my garden for a lot of fall interest. If you like to see more photos of my garden in fall check out my photo album here or check out the Better Homes & Gardens publication described in the next post - photos for that spread were taken just about this time last year!

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